Talk about the ultimate creative business, Erin started Gambles Photography in 2007. Since then she has photographed in Australia and all over the U.S., she has shot magazine covers, has had multiple gallery exhibits, and she has worked with some of Springfield’s most influential people and businesses. Erin has dabbled in portraiture, commercial, fine art, fashion, landscape, and film- you could say she’s a duke of all trades when it comes to photography!

Erin’s life motto is “If you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life!” When she’s not “working” she’s reading, playing outside, or preparing for her first baby boy. 

The problem: Many business owners have trouble producing high quality, relevant content on a consistent basis. It can feel time-consuming, laborious, and overwhelming when so many other priorities demand your attention, but if you want your social media marketing efforts to be successful, you must commit to creating content.

1. Keep it concise. No one is asking you to write the next great American novel, especially on sites like Twitter that limit your remarks to 140 characters. Get your point across, and then give your audience the chance to respond if they want to know more.

2. Keep it conversational. You possess a certain amount of knowledge about the goods and services your business provides. Your target audience may or may not possess that same knowledge, so be sure to speak or write in terms that are easy to understand while still being informative.

3. Keep it authentic. Talk about the things that you actually know and the things that you actually do. Don’t say things that could misrepresent your knowledge or experience. Your audience will know if you’re being misleading, and they’ll take their business elsewhere.

Content is the cornerstone of your social media campaign, so you can’t afford to ignore it. See it, instead, as an opportunity to start a conversation about the things you’re passionate about, and you’ll be amazed at how engaged your target audience will be.

Millions of people tuned in to last night's Super Bowl match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers at the Super Dome in New Orleans. It's fair to say that a good portion of the audience was actually interested in the game itself, which turned out to be a nail-biter, but the draw of the Super Bowl extends beyond sports fans. Many passively watched the game while eagerly awaiting every commercial break to see the premieres of this year's newest crop of Super Bowl ads.

Every year advertisers spend millions of dollars for a single 30-second ad space during America's most-watched broadcast event. We've come to expect the peak of creativity when it comes to Super Bowl ads. Traditionally, most of these ads are lighthearted and humorous, yet there always seems to be something for everyone. Last night was no exception. Brands like Doritos, Tide, and Taco Bell made us laugh. Chrysler brands Jeep and Dodge (Ram Trucks) won the hearts of many with their sentimental "Whole Again" and "Farmer" ads, respectively. But the big winner of last night's advertising competition was never seen on television.

It was partway through the third quarter when a major power outage interrupted the game. Half of the Super Dome was suddenly without power. While the broadcasters and building supervisors might have seen this as a misfortune, one company saw the outage as an opportunity. Nabisco's Oreo's advertising team (360i) acted quickly and posted the following on Twitter:

Within minutes the post had gone viral, and it didn't cost Oreo a thing.

In the age of social media, advertising opportunities are more accessible and cost-effective than ever. Whether you're a big brand or a small business, you have the power of communicating your message with relevance and immediacy. (It's important to note that there have been cases where businesses were too opportunistic and tried attaching their message to cultural events in ways that lacked discretion and sensitivity, but we can all learn from their mistakes.) 

Key take-away: Knowing your business and the culture in which you offer your products and services is important, and it should create in you an awareness of how to promote them in the right way at the right time should opportunity come knocking.

Premier business listings are only $95 a month! With that we create a custom page that provides links back to your personal site. The Ozarks Connection is an authoritative site in our area, resulting in a major benefit to you as the business owner. Why is it premier? We only accept four businesses in each category. We want to be able to help each business owner and provide the best of services and products to our community who is already on our site. 

Our site is growing and spaces are filling up quickly. We are so excited that we are the place that people are coming to discover events in our area, parks, attractions, and so much more. With growth comes change. We are revamping our event calendar to provide more information in a user-friendly manner as well as, provide all movie listings with trailers! 

If you haven’t seen our site, please go to The Ozarks Connection.com, and discover all of the things to do in Springfield, MO and surrounding communities. Frequent visitor? We would like to say thank you. Keep coming back to see the changes…and for the insider scoop, we are close to offering coupons from our premier businesses! 

Business Owners, if you are interested in The Ozarks Connection, please go to The Ozarks Connection.com and fill out the Advertise With Us form and one of our representatives will contact you. We look forward to supporting and growing your business. 

Thank you engage5w for partnering with us to offer our local businesses support in all areas of online marketing. 

"I am excited to have Cory join our team," says Claire Faucett, founder and owner of engage5w. "He enjoys not only the creative process, but also wants to help individuals, organizations, and businesses determine ways to connect with their target audience using social media." 

engage5w, founded in 2011, is a full-service social media marketing and public relations agency headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. The “5w” of engage5w refers to the traditional news writing style of addressing the Who, What, When, Where and Why in content creation, while the "engage" indicates the transition to using new social media tools to communicate and drive business.